The Imperial German General Government of Belgium (german: Kaiserliches Deutsches Generalgouvernement Belgien) was a
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
occupation administration which administered one of the three separate occupation zones established in
German-occupied Belgium during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Government and administration
The General Government was set up on 26 August 1914, when Field Marshal
Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Wilhelm Leopold Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (12 August 1843 – 19 April 1916), also known as ''Goltz Pasha'', was a Prussian Field Marshal and military writer.
Military career
Goltz was born in , East Prussia (later renamed Goltzhausen; n ...
was appointed as military governor of Belgium.
[Thomas, N. (2003), ''The German Army in World War I, 1914-15 I'', Osprey Publishing, , p. 9] He was succeeded by General
Moritz von Bissing
Moritz Ferdinand Freiherr von Bissing (30 January 1844 – 18 April 1917) was a German officer from Prussia.
Life and pre-WWI army career
Bissing was born at Ober Bellmannsdorf in the Province of Silesia. He was the son of Moritz von Bissing, ...
on 27 November 1914.
Soon after Bissing's appointment, the
German High Command divided Belgium into three distinct administrative zones.
[Tucker, S. & Roberts, P. M. (2005). World War I: encyclopedia, Vol 1, ABC-CLIO, , p. 209] The largest of the zones was the General Government, which included
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, the capital, and most of central and eastern Belgium.
The second zone, under the control of the
German Fourth Army, included the cities of
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
and
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, and was known as the ''Etappengebiet'' ("
Staging Area
A staging area (otherwise staging point, staging base, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to:
* In construction, a designated area in which vehicles, ...
").
The third zone, under the auspices of the
German Navy
The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
, included all Belgian coastal zones under German occupation and the areas closest to the front-line was called the ''Operationsgebiet'' ("
Operational Area
A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations may ...
").
The German occupation tried to keep the pre-war Belgian administrative system as intact as possible and guide it using a small group of German officers and officials with adequate linguistic and administrative skills.
The occupation pushed to the breaking point what few constraints international law then imposed on an occupying power. A heavy-handed German military administration sought to regulate every detail of daily life, both on a personal level with travel restraints and
collective punishment
Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because ind ...
as on the economical level by harnessing the Belgian industry to the German advantage and by levying repetitive massive indemnities on the Belgian provinces. Among the measures of the German administration was to shift Belgium from
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...
to
Central European Time
Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00.
It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries.
CET i ...
. Before the war, Belgium was the sixth largest economy in the world; but the Germans destroyed the Belgian economy so thoroughly by dismantling industries and transporting the equipment and machinery to Germany that it never regained its pre-war level. More than 100,000 Belgian workers were forcibly deported to Germany to work in the war industry and to Northern France to build roads and other military facilities to the German military's benefit.
[Larry Zuckerman, ''The Rape of Belgium: The Untold Story of World War I'', NYU Press, 2004, ]
The German High Command hoped to
exploit the ethnic tension between the
Flemings
The Flemish or Flemings ( nl, Vlamingen ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%.
"''Flemish''" was historically a geographical term, as all inha ...
and
Walloons
Walloons (; french: Wallons ; wa, Walons) are a Gallo-Romance ethnic group living native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of France. Walloons primarily speak '' langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Walloo ...
, and envisioned a post-war German protectorate in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
, while
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
was to be used for industrial materials and labour along with much of northeastern France.
In April 1917 Von Bissing died and he was succeeded by
Ludwig von Falkenhausen
Ludwig Alexander Friedrich August Philipp Freiherr von Falkenhausen (13 September 1844 – 4 May 1936) was a German officer most notable for his activities during World War I.
Before World War I
Falkenhausen was born in Guben. His parents were t ...
.
Military Governors-General
See also
*
Government General of Warsaw
The General Government of Warsaw (german: Generalgouvernement Warschau) was an administrative civil district created by the German Empire in World War I.Liulevicius, Vejas G. (2000). ''War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, Identity, and German ...
*
Von Bissing University
*
Raad van Vlaanderen (World War I)
The Council of Flanders ( nl, Raad van Vlaanderen, or RVV) was formed by members of the "activist" or "maximalist" faction of the Flemish Movement in German-occupied Belgium on 4 February 1917 with tacit German support. Its founders, who incl ...
*
Flamenpolitik
''Flamenpolitik'' (German; "Flemish policy") is the name for certain policies pursued by German authorities occupying Belgium during World War I and World War II. The ultimate goal of these policies was the dissolution of Belgium into separate W ...
References
Citations
External links
Generalgouvernement Belgienat 1914-1918 Online Encyclopedia.
{{coord missing, Belgium
German Empire in World War I
Politics of World War I
States and territories established in 1914
Western Front (World War I)